(a) Effective Date and Application in Pending Proceedings. These rules and any amendments take effect on the date ordered by the Supreme Court. They govern:

(1) proceedings in an action commenced after their effective date; and

(2) proceedings after that date in an action then pending unless:

(A) the Supreme Court orders otherwise; or

(B) the district court determines that applying them in a particular action would be infeasible or work an injustice.

(b) Statutes Superseded. On the effective date of these rules and any amendments to these rules, all statutes and rules, or portions of statutes or rules, in conflict with these rules or any amendments to these rules are superseded. If a statute is superseded by a rule, it will be listed in the rule's explanatory note and in Table B.

The North Dakota Rules of Civil Procedure originally took effect on July 1, 1957.

Subdivision (a) is derived from Fed.R.Civ.P. 86(a). Amendments to the rules are effective as prescribed by Section 12, Rule on Procedural Rules, Administrative Rules and Administrative Orders of the North Dakota Supreme Court (N.D.R.Proc.R.), and Section 27 02 14, N.D.C.C. The effective date of amendments to Fed.R.Civ.P. is governed by 18 U.S.C. Section 2072, with exceptions made by Congress.

Article VI, Section 3 [formerly Section 87] of the North Dakota Constitution, and Section 27-02-09, N.D.C.C., authorize the Supreme Court to promulgate rules of procedure and supersede procedural statutes. The superseding is accomplished by subdivision (b).

Rule 86 was amended, effective March 1, 2011, in response to the December 1, 2007, revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.